Exercising Fifth Year Option For Aaron Donald Was No Brainer For Rams

Numerous reports claim the Los Angeles Rams exercised the fifth year option for defensive star Aaron Donald.

In just three seasons, Aaron Donald of the Los Angeles Rams has emerged as one of the top defensive players in the league, and despite some concerns over how the former Pittsburgh star will fit in Wade Phillips‘ system, everyone knows he’s going to be just fine in the end. Donald was one of the few lone highlights from a frustrating 4-12 season in 2016 when considering he still managed to be productive by leading the league with 31 quarterback hits.

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Only recording eight sacks may be seem disappointing on paper, but keep in mind how impressive these numbers are for a player like Donald who was constantly receiving extra coverage from opponents. At the beginning of last month, Los Angeles general manager Les Snead indicated that it seems like only a matter of time before Donald earns an extension from the organization, but it looks like the team is just exercising his fifth year option for now.

For the Rams, this move was obviously a no brainer to exercise that fifth year since the team wants to make sure Donald is around for the long run. As for the extension discussed by Snead at the beginning of March, don’t be surprised if that happens sooner rather than later since the last thing Los Angeles can afford to do is risk making their beloved superstar in Donald unhappy.

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When the time does (hopefully) come for Donald’s extension, it will be interesting to see what type of money the Rams are willing to offer since many believe he deserves to be the league’s highest paid defensive player. At least for Donald, the defensive tackle must feel confident about a deal getting done knowing he has the leverage since his numbers over the last three seasons will back it up.